Parking, transfering resort, and a bit of a surprise thrown in

Hi all,

So here is the background: my DH and I are planning on a 2 day 1 night resort only stay at Beach Club next week. Everything is booked, planned and we are heading to see my parents today. Well, the surprise. Two nights ago my DH came in while I was brushing my teeth and gave me a total shock b/c he said that he wanted to take me into the MK on the 2nd full day of our stay! I nearly choked to death! (And for all of you who had bets I would go into a park while I was at WDW, well, you were right!)

So here is the current plan - we are keeping our resort only booking through disney with AAA discount and just buying tickets when we arrive. I am too close to check in to cancel with WDW and book a pkg through AAA and since we don't need the dining plan, this is the best way to do it.

I need to preface my next 2 part question by saying please don't flame me - no popcorn munching while you watch this thread disintegrate - that this question comes from a legitimate, I don't know place. And i'm not a girl who likes shinanagins - I follow the rules - but I really just want to know the rule in regards to this.

Since DH and I will be checking out of the BC to go to MK, and we will have a car, we need to know, as a resort guests to WDW are we able to park at any other resort or just the TTC? I know we can stay parked at BC or park at the TTC without paying.

Here is the 2nd part of the question - if we decide to stay a 2nd night and can grab a room at AOA (which currently says not available) or Pop, we are trying to avoid a great deal of driving around the morning we want to get to MK. So we will have luggage and our car. Again, where can we park the car if we have not checked into the 2nd resort yet (i.e. can we park at AOA with out checking in yet and head to MK via bus and check in when we get back that night) and when you transfer resorts in regards to your luggage, does bell services take care of getting it from one resort to the next for you or is it easier just to toss it in the car?

Again, please know that is coming from a place where I don't know the answer for certain and I need some logistical help trying to figure out the smoothest and fastest way to do this.

Thank you!

As long as you're checking into a 2nd resort I don't see why they wouldn't let you park there. I don't think the parking lot will be full. I'd just take care of the luggage by yourself.

We extended our stay to include a night at AoA after CSR and were told that they would transfer our bags for us, but we have a MYW package with them so not sure if that is why they are doing it. Wouldn't hurt to ask and I am sure you can park there we asked about that as well and they said we can park whenever we arrive and check-in later.

No I don't think parking is an issue, your are not leaving the property. As for the luggage, just ask bell services they may be able to transfer it. The worst they can do is say no.

Thanks everyone. I just don't want to spend all day at MK and then come out and all my luggage and car has been towed. That would not be a very magical experience.

I am so glad you decided to extend your stay! Have fun!

Yes, we are too. I am so surprised that my DH wanted to go into the park. So excited! We leave tomorrow!

Have a magical time!

We changed resorts mid trip several years ago and just let the front desk at our first resort know ahead of time. We got to the second hotel that night and our luggage was there waiting for us!

I am glad you are going to go to MK. I was wondering how you could stay away from a park while being in the bubble. Have a great time.

Double from me!

Parking can be iffy. Usually you are entitled to park at the resort you are staying at, or the one of the parks. Some resorts (mostly the values and some moderates) parking isn't really an issue. However trying to park at Contemporary (mostly), GF, or Poly without a reservation or an ADR at that resort, can be troublesome. Each resort has enough parking spaces for its guests, and not much more. Despite many people taking DME and not bringing cars, sometimes they will enforce the "You must be staying here or eating here" policy.

Were it me, I'd let them transfer the luggage (if that service is available to you)and leave your car where it is. It will be far easier to drive resort-to-resort than resort-to-park-to-resort. Use the transportation to get around that day and then just move your car at night when you are back in for the evening.

Resort guest doesn't entitle you to park freely at any of the resorts - you are bound by the parking rules at each location. What it gets you is free parking at the parks - so you are supposed to park at the TTC. If the following day is included or not I don't know.. look at what the date they put on your piece of paper. But I doubt that will be a problem.. they barely look at them.

For all the hubbub people put into trying to get around paying for parking.. I have no idea why they don't just fake the parking passes.

You can still park for free at a park on the day of your check out. We did, and we had the AAA diamond parking so we got a sweet spot!

Please don't go down this route. This is not the intent of the thread. My original post said nothing of getting out of paying, rather, wanting to stay strictly with in the rules of parking but since we are changing resorts and I have never changed resorts before, I wanted to know the rules.

Just an update - I called guest services before arriving when I booked our 2nd night which is at Art of Animation. After day one and getting up super early to get to the BC, I'm so glad we decided to stay another night bc I don't think we could have safely driven home tomorrow night. But to the point, she instructed me that if we choose to move the car in the a.m., then when we arrive at Art of Animation, they will give us our parking pass so actually, we will be all set. And if we decided to do TTC, we are fine there too b/c we have the BC parking pass and its good until end of the day check out which would be tomorrow night. So we are all set! And for those who transfer resorts with a car, you get the parking pass when you tell the guard you are checking in so its easy breezy.

Yay!! That's what they told us when we called and I am glad to see it really does work that way. I'm also a stickler for the rules and was worried that we would have an issue. Hope you're having a great time!

However...they were wrong. So we pulled up to Art of Animation and the guard just checked our ID and didn't give us a parking pass. We got that when we officially checked in. We decided to keep things simple - may not have been the most time effective but it was simple. We were all packed b/c we had to be to get out of BC so we just threw everything in the car and headed to TTC. It was the simplest thing. We got the parking pass when at the guard gate when we arrived at BC. But not at AOA.

I also don't want to start anything here, but I am very curious of the acual policy. I got razzed pretty good here once because I had an ADR at Kona Cafe (we were staying in POFQ) in the AM and just figured I'd take the Monorail to the MK and then just come back to Poly for the car at the end of the day. It was a very slow part of the year and the parking lot was far from filled so spots were not a problem, but is there anything technically wrong with doing this?
RickP